More Birds

It is a dull, gray morning, but our backyard is teaming with life:

slate colored juncos

white throated sparrows

Carolina wrens

tufted titmice

red bellied woodpeckers

downy woodpeckers

Carolina chickadees

towhees


brown thrashers

house finches

white breasted nuthatches

brown headed nuthatches

cardinals

crows


mourning doves

Cedar Waxwings

It seems every time I see these great birds, it is cold or cloudy or snowy or rainy. Today was no exception. A flock descended on a neighbor's  holly tree.

The click-like chirping that you hear is coming from the cedar waxwings. The other sound is from a cardinal. I couldn't get very close or they would fly away. Here are a couple of pictures from online so you can have a better idea of what was going on.

  

Close Call

Thursday afternoon, while  riding my bike, I encountered a 1950s-era, nuclear-sized critter high on a bluff overlooking Crabtree Creek, just off St. Mary's Street. I escaped, but my trusty Felt was not so lucky.

Governor Purdue has called out the National Guard and asked for federal assistance in tracking down this critter. Meanwhile...

this gal bides her time.

Giant Critter Attacked Me!

Stay tuned!!!

Strange Critter

The day after New Years, I took a ride on the greenway and encountered this strange "critter" in the creek.

According to the Raleigh police officer on the scene, someone stole it from an apartment complex on Noble Road and it ended up in the creek. Expert tracking noses were brought in to apprehend the "critter."

Kilroy was here

...or a demented cat.

This is a little more normal:

Frank is our oldest critter.  M adopted him on (you guessed it) Frank Sinatra's birthday, so he's named for the famous crooner, although he doesn't do much singing.

Frank is a gray and white tuxedo cat, very well-mannered and behaves well with others - except when he wants to beat the snot out of Ivan the Terrible.  He's 14 years old, but acts much younger.  He went through some trauma a few years ago when he developed pancreatitis and almost didn't make it.  After several weeks with a feeding tube, he finally recovered and is doing great.  He's a very sweet cat who will politely disappear when company comes and will alert you loudly when the food bowl is empty.

Sweet Francis.

Happy New Year!